Among the many NES classics we've all played and forgotten about, Blaster Master is one that still manages to amaze today. I remember marveling at the game's remarkable special effects when it came out 12 years ago, and even as I play it now, I'm astonished at how cool the shots and explosions look.

For months now, Sega and their latest console entry, Dreamcast, have been massively scrutinized to beatdown proportions in the public arena. This was largely due to the very prolific and high profile launch of Sony's own PlayStation 2 onto the global landscape.

What's worse is that some of their best games were actually created by other companies: like the Star Wars series (developed by Capcom) on the Super Nintendo and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (developed by Factor 5) for the Nintendo 64. It's likely that the potency of the Star Wars license is why this division continues to exist. Their latest is a side-scrolling fighting game called Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles and it's close to being a game that LucasArts finally got right.

Jedi Power Battles was a strangely difficult game to review. Dale and I on some level enjoyed the game, but you must wonder if our patience wouldn't have ran out a lot quicker if we weren't professionally obligated to play it. All the major problems that Dale mentioned in his review are very accurate and very serious.

What I consider to be the main weakness of Vagrant Story is that it wants to be something that its not. Sort of like Quentin Tarentino stretching as an actor or Sylvester Stallone attempting to do comedy.

If there's one thing that Nintendo has in its corner, it's the huge collection of franchises that it can go to time and again when in need. With the Nintendo 64 needing to prove itself to the masses, Nintendo tapped Super Mario to showcase the system in the form of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Kart 64. As things became more dire, Star Fox 64 and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time appeared in all their 64-bit glory to quiet the naysayers. But now as the console reaches the end of its lifecycle, Nintendo seems to be tapping even more of its properties lately. Donkey Kong saw some action last year, and this year Nintendo picked its ancient racing classic that hasn't seen the light of day since the 8-bit NES console was in the talk of the town. I'm talking about Excitebike, the high-flying, 2-D, motoracing title that was a hit in the '80s, but is back in full 3-D under the name Excitebike 64.

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